The coachesKevin Sumlin
Purdue, 1988
4th year at UH and Overall, 32-16

Mark Hutson (Interim)
Oklahoma, 1989
1st year as interim at Tulane, 0-2 // (8-7) Second Year

Fast Facts on the Series
Series Record Overall Houston leads 12-4
Series Record at Houston Houston leads 6-2
Series Record at Tulane Houston leads 4-2
Series Record at Neutral Houston leads 2-0
First Meeting Houston 54, Tulane 7 (Sept. 14, 1968; at Houston)
Last Meeting Houston 42, Tulane 23 (Sept. 25, 2010; at Houston)

THE SERIES
« Thursday's game is the 17th all-time meeting between the two clubs and Houston goes searching for its ninth consecutive win in the series.
« Houston has won three consecutive contests in the Superdome dating back more than a decade ... The last loss in New Orleans was Nov. 4, 2000, by a 41-23 margin.
« Houston has topped 40+ points in four of its last five wins against the Green Wave ... Starting quarterback Case Keenum is 3-0 vs. Tulane as a starter, including a 34-10 win in the Superdome in 2007.
« Head Coach Kevin Sumlin is 3-0 vs. the Green Wave, including a 44-16 win in New Orleans 2009.

FOR OPENERS
« Houston will look to continue its best start in school history and improve to 10-0 with a Thursday night contest at Tulane ... Houston is playing its third mid-week game of the 2011 campaign and is 2-0 in those contests, with a 49-42 win at UTEP and a 73-34 win over Rice.
« Houston is one win shy of its seventh 10-win campaign in program history ... The school record for wins in a season is 11, which occurred in 1973 and 1979.
« Houston is enjoying its highest national ranking in two decades ... The Cougars are ranked No. 11 in each of the three majors polls (B.C.S. / AP / Coaches') and that's the highest since being ranked No. 10 on Sept. 12, 1991, before a 40-10 loss at No. 2 Miami.
« UH is coming off a 56-13 victory at UAB ... For the fifth time in nine games the Cougars rallied from a first-quarter deficit to earn a win ... UH outscored UAB 56-6 after allowing a UAB score early in the first quarter to improve to 4-0 on the road in 2011.
« Houston is the nation's top offensive team and is scoring at an incredible rate over the last three games ... In wins vs. Marshall, Rice and UAB, UH has run a total of 201 plays and has scored 192 points ... An average of nearly one point per play through the last three weeks.
« Did you know that the 2011 Houston offense is the second most prolific in NCAA history? ... In fact Houston has the NCAA's top three offensive teams all-time ... Please check page 6 for more details.
« The Cougars improved to 5-0 in Conference USA play for the first time in school history ... It also marked the program's fourth 5-0 start in conference play ... Those teams included 1990, 1979 and 1978 in Southwest Conference.
« Houston has scored at least 35 points in nine-straight games ... The 56 points vs. UAB also marked the sixth consecutive game with at least 49 points and the fifth time in the last six games with at least 56 points.
« Houston finished with 654 yards of total offense against UAB ... That is the sixth straight game with at least 550 yards and the seventh overall this season.
« In 2011, Houston has posted 34 scoring drives of six plays or less ... In addition, Houston has recorded 36 scoring drives of two minutes or less.
« Houston is undefeated at home in 2011 and has outscored its last four opponents 248-65 inside Robertson Stadium, an average score of 62.0-to-16.3.
« The Cougars are one of five remaining undefeated teams in college football and will look to improve to 10-0 on the year, which would extend the best start in school history.
« Head Coach Kevin Sumlin is reaching rarefied air at UH ... He is in his fourth season and already owns three seasons of eight or more wins ...The last time Houston had three seasons of 8+ wins over four years was 1976-79 under Bill Yeoman.
« Sumlin is the winningest coach at Houston through his first 3+ seasons ... Sumlin has 32 wins (32-16), which is already fourth in school history ... He is just five wins shy of second place ... Yeoman is first with 160 wins in 25 years at UH ... Sumlin's .667 winning percentage is tops among Houston coaches with more than three seasons on the sidelines.
« Houston is the highest ranked team in the state of Texas ... The only other state schools in the rankings are Texas and Texas Christian at No. 20 and No. 24 respectively in the USA Today / ESPN Coaches' Poll ... Texas A&M and Baylor are receiving votes.
« The Cougars have been ranked each of the last five weeks and are enjoying their highest ranking since Sept. 12, 1991, when they were ranked #10 ... Houston has been ranked (at least one week) each of the last three seasons, a first for the Cougars since the 1989-91 campaigns.
« Head Coach Kevin Sumlin is 7-0 at Robertson Stadium when coaching a ranked club ... In fact "home" has been a great place for the Cougars as a ranked program ... UH has won 20 consecutive home games as a ranked team dating back to a 14-7 loss to Miami (Fla.) in 1980.
« As if that streak wasn't impressive enough, All-America signal caller Case Keenum has won 22 consecutive home games (20 as a starter) ... He boasts 34 TD throws and just three INTs already in 2011, but over his 20 consecutive home wins (as a starter) the Abilene, Texas, native has 75 TD tosses and just 10 interceptions.
« The Cougars have been to six bowl games in the last eight seasons and are already bowl eligible in 2011 after starting 9-0.
« Houston continues to lead the country in passing offense, total offense and scoring offense ... The Cougars average 457.1 yards per game through the air and are a very respectable #58 nationally in rushing at 159.9 yards a game ... The club averages a national-best 617.0 yards in total offense and score 52.7 points per game.
« Houston leads Conference USA in eight offensive categories this season, pacing the league with 29.1 first downs per game and third-down conversions with a rate of 56.2 percent.
« In a note to show the offensive line some love, the Cougars lead Conference USA having allowed just nine sacks through nine games and are fifth in C-USA with 159.9 yards rushing per game ... The team's 5.1 yards per carry leads the league.
« The University of Houston has led the nation in total offense seven times, which is the most in the NCAA, tied with Arizona State and Tulsa ... UH has been the national total offense leader in 2009, 1992, 1990, 1989, 1968, 1967 and 1966 .
« The Cougars' offense is led by coordinators Jason Phillips and Kliff Kingsbury ... Both enjoyed illustrious collegiate careers which led to time in the NFL ... Phillips was an All-America receiver at the University of Houston, leading the nation in receiving yards in both 1987 and `88 ... He was drafted by Detroit in 1989 and went on to an eight-year career in the NFL ... Kingsbury recorded more than 12,000 yards passing in his All-America career at Texas Tech ... He was a sixth-round draft pick by the New England Patriots.

COUGAR OFFENSIVE PLAYER TIDBITS« Case Keenum leads the country in several offensive categories and continues to shatter NCAA career marks in the process ... Keenum is the NCAA's career leader in passing yardage (17,212), total offense (18,101), touchdown passes (141) and touchdowns accounted for (163) ... He passed former Hawaii signal caller Timmy Chang (17,072 yards) with his 407-yard effort at UAB.
« Over his last four games Keenum has 20 TD passes... That's more than (or equal to) 105-of-120 Division I teams this entire season and the nine TD passes vs. Rice equaled or bettered the season total of 22 teams in college football in 2011.
« Keenum is among the Top Five nationally in virtually every passing category, including ranking first in touchdown passes (34), first in yards (3,626), first in touchdown-to-interception ratio (34-to-3), second in pass efficiency (192.4), second in yards per attempt (10.5) and second in completion percentage (74.1).
« Keenum produced a performance for the ages against Rice, throwing for 534 yards and nine touchdowns ... It's the top performance in college football this season and the nine TDs is second in school history to David Klingler's 11 vs. Eastern Washington in 1990.
« Keenum is completing a career high 74.1 percent of his passes in 2011, which also ranks No. 2 in the country ... In fact every time Keenum drops back to pass the Cougars average 10.5 yards per attempt ... He also averages 14.1 yards per completion.
« Speaking of completions, Keenum (1,375 completions) needs just 28 more completions to own that NCAA record as well ... The current mark is 1,403 by former Texas Tech QB Graham Harrell (2005-08).
« Keenum owns the NCAA record for touchdowns responsible for (currently 163) and career points responsible for (currently 978).
« He is on pace to break the NCAA's single-season pass efficiency mark as well ... Keenum's rating is 192.4 so far in 2011, with the record being 186.0 (Colt Brennan of Hawaii in 2006) ... Keenum is just under 400 yards shy of tying the NCAA record with three 4,000-yard seasons during a career ... If Keenum reached 5,000 yards throwing this season, that would be a first in NCAA history.
« Keenum was named the Walter Camp National Player of the Week on Oct. 30 for his performance vs. Rice.
« Keenum was named the Rivals.com National Player of the Week on Oct. 30 for his performance vs. Rice.
« Keenum was named a semifinalist (one of 16) for the 75th Maxwell Award, given to the nation's top player.
« Thanks to his strong senior season, Keenum is also a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien Award.
« With the win over Louisiana Tech, quarterback Case Keenum became the University of Houston's all-time winningest quarterback passing former UH and current Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb ... Keenum has now won 33 games in 46 starts.
« Keenum has 17 career 400-yard games and 34 games of 300+ yards ... He recently passed Ty Detmer (BYU) on the NCAA's all-time 300-yard game list and needs two more to equal Timmy Chang (36) for the most 300 yard games in a career that spanned longer than four seasons ... Detmer's 33 is the most in NCAA history for a four-year career.
« Keenum has topped 300 yards passing in every game this season.
« Keenum has been named the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week three times this season ... The first came for his 310-yard, two touchdown performance vs. UCLA in the season opener when he completed 75 percent of his passes ... The second was after he led UH from a 27-point deficit to defeat Louisiana Tech, 35-34 ... In that game, he passed for 351 yards and three touchdowns ... Keenum recently won the award with his 534-yard, nine-TD effort vs. Rice.
« Houston boasts a talented trio of running backs and the collection of Michael Hayes (61.4 ypg), Charles Sims (56.4) and Bryce Beall (47.7) are averaging a combined 165.5 rushing yards per game this season.
« In addition to averaging nearly identical yardage, both Hayes and Sims have seven rushing scores apiece and Beall has found the end zone six times on the ground ... Hayes has added four receiving TDs and Sims has three.
« Sims hauled in two of those TD grabs two weeks ago vs. Rice and has scored at least one TD in six consecutive games, with three scores coming at UTEP and two more vs. East Carolina.
« Hayes grabbed two of his four TD receptions in the win over Marshall, a new career high.
« Hayes has scored at least one TD in eight of the first-nine games this year, including three games with multiple TDs ... He had two rushing scores vs. UCLA and one rushing TD and one receiving TD at North Texas before his two TD catches vs. Marshall.
« Patrick Edwards continues to be one of the country's top pass-catchers, ranking 2nd nationally at 127.6 ypg.
« Edwards has 1,148 yards receiving this season, just behind Oklahoma's Ryan Broyles for the national lead.
« Edwards owns the country's best receiving day in 2011, making seven catches for 318 yards and five TDs vs. Rice ... The yardage is tops in college football, as is the five TDs ... His 318 yards is the second most in school history (Donnie Avery had 346 in 2007) and the five TDs tied Manny Hazard's school record of five TD grabs vs. Baylor in 1989 ... And for good measure, his 45.4 yards per catch against Rice was a Conference USA record.
« Edwards now has 14 career 100-yard receiving games, the second most in school history, one behind Vincent Marshall (15).
« Edwards recorded a reception in his 43rd consecutive game at UAB and has recorded a touchdown pass in four of his last five outings.
« With his five touchdown receptions vs. Rice, Edwards tied the school record for career touchdown receptions with 34 ... Elmo Wright also had 34 touchdown receptions from 1968-70.
« Edwards has 258 career receptions, which is third in school history ... His 3,905 career receiving yards is now the standard all-time at Houston ... He recently passed Vincent Marshall's 3,770 career yards from 2003-06 ... Edwards has 14 career 100-yard games, which is fifth in C-USA history (16 is the league record) and his career yardage is second in conference history, 233 yards behind Rice's Jarett Dillard (2005-08) ... Dillard owns the C-USA record with 60 TDs and Edwards' next scoring grab will place him No. 2 all-time with 35.
« Tyron Carrier is Houston's all-time reception leader ... Carrier broke the record vs. Rice and now has 289 career catches ... He is 11 catches shy of Arnold Jackson's (Louisville 1997-00) Conference USA mark of 300 ... OU's Broyles is the NCAA all-time record holder with 349 career catches.
« Carrier is 27 catches shy of No. 2 in NCAA record ... Second all-time is Taylor Stubblefield of Purdue with 316.
« The senior is coming off a career high 12 catches for 105 yards and a score at UAB ... It was his 11th career 100-yard receiving day and second of the year (vs. UCLA).
« Carrier is third in the conference and No. 22 nationally with his 7.2 catches per game in 2011 ... He also enjoyed a season high 138 yards receiving with a score in the season-opening win vs. UCLA.
« Carrier is an explosive return man and has seven career kickoff returns for scores, tying C.J. Spiller's (Clemson) NCAA record of seven ... His next kickoff return for score will of course put him in sole possession of first place on that list.
« Carrier owns the NCAA's longest active streak with a catch in 48 consecutive games (every game of his career), while Edwards has at least one catch in 43 straight ... The NCAA record is 54 by Bryan Anderson of Central Michigan.
« Houston had a C-USA best seven players make Phil Steele's Midseason All-Conference C-USA squad ... Case Keenum (QB), Patrick Edwards (WR), Chris Thompson (C) and Jacolby Ashworth (OT) were first team picks, Tyron Carrier (WR) was a second team selection and Michael Hayes (RB) and Justin Johnson (WR) represented UH on the third team.
« Justin Johnson has seven TD grabs in 2011, including a spectacular one-handed snag in the back of the end zone vs. Marshall ... Johnson is second on the club with those seven scores, including two TDs in games vs. North Texas and Georgia State ... The seven TDs is a career high.
« Johnson has caught TD passes in three consecutive games.
« When the Cougars do manage a rare fourth down, the club ranks No. 3 nationally at 42.1 net yards per boot, including an average of 44.8 from sophomore Richie Leone on 26 total punts ... That average would rank No. 2 in Conference USA with enough attempts.
« Leone was named to the Ray Guy Award Watch, given annually to the nations top punter.

Keepin' Keenum Clean« Houston's offensive line has done an excellent job protecting its quarterbacks this season and has allowed just nine total sacks in 411 pass attempts, one sack for every 45.7 attempts on the year.
« B.J. Anderson's crew is one of the country's top units in 2011 and boasts one senior, returning all-league pick Chris Thompson ... Thompson made the difficult transition from guard (First Team All-Conference in 2010) and was a midseason first team All-Conference USA pick at center by Phil Steele earlier this year ... Thompson was named to Watch Lists for the Lombardi and Outland Awards this season.
« More recently, Houston's O-Line held a vaunted Marshall pass rush without a sack on Oct. 22 ... Marshall's Vinny Curry entered the game with 9.5 sacks through seven games, but had just three tackles and zero behind the line of scrimmage.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER NOTES« Houston ranks No. 13 nationally in turnover margin (0.8) and paces Conference USA.
« Pressure on the quarterback is a huge reason for that number and the Cougars lead C-USA and rank No. 2 nationally with 8.8 tackles-for-loss per game in 2011 ... The Cougars also have 12 interceptions, which is third in the league behind Southern Miss and Tulsa's 13 picks.
« Houston has made some impressive second-half adjustments on defense and is allowing just 10.2 points per game in the second half this season.
« In the fourth quarter that number gets even more impressive ... The UH "D" has allowed just 26 fourth quarter points all year and hasn't allowed a team to score more than seven points in the fourth period of any game this year ... Over the last seven games UH has allowed just 14 total fourth-quarter points and is outscoring foes 95-14 during that stretch.
« Houston ranks No. 4 in Conference USA in scoring defense (23.4) ... The Cougars did give up 34 points vs. Rice, but the Owls scored 14 of those points off turnovers and Rice scored on a 97-yard run when the game was on ice.
« UH allowed just one TD last Saturday at UAB ... The Blazers scored on their opening drive, but were held out of the end zone the rest of the contest and mustered just two field goals.
« Over its last four games Houston is averaging an outstanding 10.5 tackles-for-loss per game ... Houston is coming off 10 TFLs at UAB, 11 vs. Rice and 12 vs. East Carolina.
« Houston had four defenders named to the Midseason All-Conference team by Phil Steele ... Marcus McGraw (2nd), Thomas Bates (3rd), Sammy Brown (3rd) and David Hunter (3rd) were named to the squad.
« Houston's 56-0 victory over Georgia State was the Cougars' first shutout since a 45-0 win against Louisiana-Lafayette on Sept. 18, 1999 - a streak of 146 games.
« Georgia State's 133 passing yards was the fewest by a Cougar opponent since Memphis recorded 92 yards on Oct. 30, 2010 ... GSU's 241 yards of total offense (108 rush, 133 pass) was the fewest by a Cougar opponent since Texas Southern finished with 179 yards (48 rush, 131 pass) on Nov. 24, 2007.
« Houston then held East Carolina to just 21 yards rushing in 30 attempts in that 56-3 victory, the fewest since limiting Army to just 10 yards on Nov. 15, 2003.
« UH has been outstanding in the second half defensively all season ... It limited North Texas to just six second-half points and allowed only 107 yards of total offense in the final two quarters (46 rushing and 61 passing) in UH's 48-23 win ... Against Louisiana Tech, the defense kept the Bulldogs from scoring in 6-of-8 drives during the final two quarters ... Against ECU the Cougars pitched a second half shutout and allowed just three second-half tallies at UAB.
« Houston has dialed up its defensive pressure in recent weeks and boasts seven interceptions in wins vs. East Carolina, Marshall and UAB ... The Cougars picked off four passes vs. ECU and two more vs. the Thundering Herd, including one pick that was returned 20 yards by Derrick Mathews for a score ... D.J. Hayden added a "Pick-Six" at UAB, racing 52 yards after his second interception of the season.
« Mathews has two interceptions over his last four games ... His 20-yard return for a score vs. Marshall was the first of his career ... Mathews is a candidate for Freshman All-America honors in 2011 and ranks second on the team and second among all C-USA freshmen with 67 total tackles.
« Mathews recorded 12 stops in the win over Rice, his second double-digit tackle effort of the year ... The rookie enjoyed a career best 16 stops at Louisiana Tech.
« One Cougar defender standing out with big plays is senior Sammy Brown ... Brown leads the country in tackles-for-loss (2.4 per game) and is tied for third nationally with 1.1 sacks per contest ... Despite being in just his second season at UH, Brown is already fifth on the career list in TFLs with 41.5.
« Dating back the last 16 games (to Rice in 2010), Brown has recorded 39.0 tackles for loss, an average of 2.4 TFL per game.
« Brown was recently added to the Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List, given annually to the nation's top defender.
« Marcus McGraw is moving up the UH career lists for tackles ... McGraw is third all-time with 451 total stops and is the school's all-time leader in assisted tackles with 341, passing Wade Phillips for the mark.
« The four-year starter is also third all-time at Houston with eight career fumbles forced.
« Phillip Steward is another explosive player for the Houston defense and won C-USA Defensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 10 ... Steward is second on the team with two interceptions and has 7.5 tackles for loss.
« Steward tied a season high with 12 tackles in the win vs. Rice, which included a stop for an 11-yard loss.
« Newcomer D.J. Hayden has been an outstanding addition at cornerback and has been a big-play machine ... Hayden has two interceptions, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery to go with four tackles for loss.
« Hayden forced and recovered a fumble vs. Rice, while adding two TFLs and five total tackles in the win.
« His second INT of the year was at UAB, which he returned 52 yards for a score.
« Lloyd Allen had a huge defensive effort at UAB on Nov. 5, recording 3.0 sacks and 4.0 solo tackles in the victory ... Allen now ranks third on the club with his 3.5 sacks.

HISTORIC NIGHTS FOR KEENUM, EDWARDSCase Keenum and Patrick Edwards produced the top passing and receiving days in the college football this season when Keenum threw for 534 yards and nine touchdowns and Edwards caught seven passes for 318 yards and five scores during a 73-34 victory over Rice at Robertson Stadium on Oct. 27 ... Below are the top passing and receiving nights in college football this season:

CARDIAC COOGS
Three times this season Houston has rallied from double-digit deficits to earn victories, most recently during a 73-34 win over Rice on Oct. 27 ... Falling behind 17-7 in the opening quarter, Houston outscored the Owls 45-3 to earn the resounding victory.
Houston also rallied for wins at UTEP and Louisiana Tech ... UH fell behind 14-0 in El Paso before surging to a 49-42 victory ... Down two scores, the Cougars rallied with the next three touchdowns to take their first lead at UTEP ... Although the Miners did rebound to grab a 28-24 lead midway through the third quarter, Houston scored the next two touchdowns to build an advantage it would never relinquish ... It eventually resulted in the eighth-largest comeback in school history.

In Houston's 35-34 win over Louisiana Tech on Sept. 17, the Cougars overcame a 27-point deficit, the largest in school history ... It topped the previous record of 19 points (down 28-9, 3:46 left in 3rd quarter) vs. Conference USA-rival UTEP in a 42-37 win on Nov. 22, 2008 ... It was the biggest come-from-behind road win since a 31-30 win against Rice (down 30-14, 6:20 left in 3rd quarter) on Sept. 2, 2006.

The comeback began with 4:27 in the third quarter when Case Keenum connected with Patrick Edwards for a 50-yard touchdown in a drive which only took 44 seconds off the clock ... UH continued with three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including a back-of-the-end zone grab by Edwards with 1:36 left to go in the game ... The defense held Louisiana Tech to 69 yards in the fourth quarter and forced two turnovers, as well as a fourth-down stand.

With the win at UTEP, Keenum has engineered three of the top four biggest comebacks in Houston history as well as four of the top 18:
1. 27 points down at Louisiana Tech in a 35-34 win (Sept. 17, 2011)
2. 19 points down vs. UTEP in a 42-37 win (Nov. 22, 2008)
t-3. 17 points down vs. UAB in a 45-20 win (Oct. 9, 2008)
t-8. 14 points down at UTEP in a 49-42 win (Sept. 29, 2011)

COOGS SYNONYMOUS WITH OFFENSE
Houston is the country's top offensive team and the Cougars are moving the football and scoring at historic performances in 2011 ... Below is a rundown of the top offensive teams all-time, many of which were led by Heisman Trophy finalists.

KEENUM CHASES NCAA RECORDS« Where to begin? Case Keenum has shattered most of the NCAA's career passing marks and is eyeing a few more for good measure ... Last Saturday at UAB Keenum threw for 407 yards to break the NCAA's career passing yardage record of 17,072, which had been previously held by former Hawaii QB Timmy Chang.
« The 407-yard effort gave Keenum his 34th career 300-yard day and he needs just two more 300-yard games to equal Chang's NCAA record of 36.
« He is also poised to break Graham Harrell's (2005-08) career completions mark ... Keenum currently has 1,375 completions, 28 shy of Harrell's 1,403.
« Keenum is on pace to become the first player in NCAA history with three 5,000-yard seasons in his career ... He already has surpassed the 3,600 yard mark in 2011 and would need to average 343.5 yards the rest of the way (over four games) to accomplish that feat ... Keenum threw for 5,020 yards as a sophomore in 2008 and 5,671 yards in 2009 ... Through nine games in 2011, he has passed for 3,626 yards.
« The Abilene, Texas, native (17,212 career passing yards) threw for 534 yards and a 2011 NCAA best nine touchdowns in the Oct. 27 victory against Rice ... He currently leads the country with his 3,626 yards passing and 34 total TD throws.
« Earlier this season Keenum passed Timmy Chang (Hawaii) for the most total yards in F.B.S. history (Keenum has 28,101) and will look to put that record out of reach with a number of games remaining.
« Keenum (163) also broke former Central Michigan QB Dan Lefevour's record of 149 TDs accounted for mark ... Keenum has 141 career TD throws and 22 career TD runs ... Lefevour set that record in 2010 ... Keenum has accounted for 978 career points, also an NCAA record.
« The nine TD tosses vs. Rice gave him the career TD passing record as well ... He broke the previous mark of 134 career scoring tosses held by former Texas Tech signal caller, Graham Harrell.
« He is also just the second player in NCAA history to top 17,000 career passing yards and he could become the first player in NCAA history to top 18,000 yards in a career.
« This season Keenum is on pace to set the NCAA record for pass efficiency ... His passer rating is 192.4, ahead of the NCAA record of 186.0 set by Colt Brennan (Hawaii) in 2006.

SIXTH TIMES THE CHARM
Senior quarterback Case Keenum learned in January 2011 he had been granted a sixth season of eligibility after suffering a torn ACL vs. UCLA in the third game of the 2010 season ... Keenum returns to captain a UH team which has won 33 games with him at the helm in four years as a starter, including 20 consecutive at home.

KEENUM'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS
After leading the nation in total offense in 2008 and 2009, quarterback Case Keenum is back atop that list in 2011 with 405.9 total yards per game ... He also leads the country in passing offense with 402.9 yards per game.

In 2008, he ranked No. 1 with 403.2 yards per game and repeated in the category with 416.4 yards in 2009 ... He also led the nation in passing in 2009 ... Keenum is only the seventh quarterback in FBS history to lead the nation in total offense in consecutive seasons and the first since Hawaii's Colt Brennan accomplished the feat in 2005-06 ... If Keenum matches that success in 2011, he could join Louisiana Tech's Tim Rattay (1997-99) as the only quarterback to lead the nation in total offense three years in his career.

Keenum is the school record holder in passing yards, total offense, passing touchdowns, attempts and completions ... He also holds Houston's single-season records for completions, attempts, passing yards and total offense.

Keenum finished eighth in the 2009 Heisman trophy voting, and led Houston to a No. 1 ranking in the NCAA in passing offense, total offense and scoring offense in 2009 ... He passed for 5,671 yards in 2009, the third-highest passing total in NCAA Division I-FBS single-season history and joined Texas Tech's Graham Harrell as one of only two players to pass for 5,000 yards in two seasons.

Keenum has had 34 300-yard passing performances in his career (two behind Timmy Chang of Hawaii - 36), 17 over 400 yards, and has led Houston to 21 career come-from-behind victories ... He has also completed passes to 31 different receivers in his career as a starter.

START ME UP FOR KEENUM
Quarterback Case Keenum has 33 wins as the starting quarterback for the Cougars, breaking Kevin Kolb's (29) record for most wins by a UH quarterback ... With the Oct. 8 win over East Carolina, Keenum improved to 30-13 as a starter, breaking Kolb's career mark ... He also has the second-most wins of all active NCAA quarterbacks, behind only Kellen Moore's 46 wins at Boise State.

EDWARDS ENJOYING INCREDIBLE SENIOR CAMPAIGNPatrick Edwards is enjoying one of the greatest pass-catching seasons in Houston history and the senior ranks No. 2 nationally in receiving yardage and is also No. 2 with 11 TD grabs through nine games ... Edwards trails Oklahoma's Ryan Broyles by just nine yards and his 11 TDs is just one behind Oklahoma State's Justin Blackmon, who has 12 so far ... Edwards' 20.5 yards per catch is No. 6 nationally, but tops among players with at least 35 receptions in 2011.

GOING FOR THE TRI-FECTA
Senior wide out Patrick Edwards became the first player in school history to catch for 1,000 yards in three seasons when he hauled in seven catches for a career high 318 yards and five scores on Oct. 27 vs. Rice ... Edwards is currently the lone Cougar to top 1,000 yards receiving in three consecutive years, but could be joined shortly by fellow senior, Tyron Carrier ... Carrier has 743 yards receiving this season and leads the club with 65 catches.

Edwards, the former walk-on, missed four games of the 2008 season after a devastating leg injury ... One year later (2009), he posted 1,021 receiving yards on 85 catches ... In 2010 he followed up his performance with 1,100 yards (71 catches).
In 2011, he has 56 catches for 1,148 yards through nine games and he leads the nation in TD receptions (11), while ranking No. 2 in receiving yards (1,148) ... His 318 yards and five scores vs. Rice are tops in college football this season and the 318 is the second most in school history.

Carrier recorded his two 1,000-yard seasons in 2008 and 2009 with 1,026 and 1,029, respectively ... He got off to a great start in 2011 with a 10-catch performance for 138 yards in the season opener vs. UCLA and has a team high 65 grabs for 743 yards through eight games ... His 7.2 receptions per game ranks 22nd nationally.

The duo both rank in the UH top-10 all-time receiving yards -- Edwards first with 3,905 yards and Carrier fifth with 3,278 ... It's the first time in school history two 3,000-yard receivers are playing together.

RUSH HOUR
UH has been known for its passing offense, however the Cougars have a stable of running backs, creating the country's most potent offensive attack ... Three running backs -- seniors Bryce Beall and Michael Hayes and sophomore Charles Sims -- each own starting experience and a combined career yardage of 5,406 ... Among the three, Beall (2008) and Sims (2009) were honored as Conference USA Freshmen of the Year in their respective seasons.

In eight of the nine eight games, the three have combined to rush for more than 100 yards with a season high of 226 yards at UTEP in the Conference USA opener ... In addition, Hayes and Sims have seven rushing scores apiece, while Beall has six.

Beall's A Ringing
Senior running back Bryce Beall has 3,073 rushing yards in three-plus years at UH, which currently ranks third on the school's career rushing yards list ... He needs 579 yards in his senior season to become Houston's all-time leading rusher and surpass record-holder Ketric Sanford's (1996-99) 3,636 yards ... Beall ran for 1,247 yards as a freshman, 670 as a sophomore in 2009 and 870 last year ... He has rushed for 286 yards this season.

Beall earned All-Conference USA First-Team honors in 2010 and broke the UH career record for total and rushing touchdowns after scoring 12 last season ... In three-plus seasons, he has rushed for 38 touchdowns and has 44 total for his career ... He also has averaged 5.6 yards per rush.

THE OFFENSE UNDER SUMLIN
Now in his fourth season at Houston, Kevin Sumlin has created an offense ranked among the nation's best each season ... It's tough to match the numbers posted in 2009 when three phases ranked No. 1 nationally ... However through nine games, UH is doing just that, leading the country in passing, scoring and total offense.

Houston became only the third team in NCAA history to have a 5,000-yard passer and three 1,000-yard receivers when it accomplished the feat in 2009 ... The other two teams are Texas Tech (2003) and Tulsa (2007).

Case Keenum is only the second quarterback in NCAA history to pass for over 5,000 yards in two different seasons (2008, 2009) ... The other was Texas Tech's Graham Harrell in 2007 and 2008.

In 2008, Keenum passed for over 5,000 yards, running back Bryce Beall rushed for over 1,000 and receiver Tyron Carrier caught for over 1,000 yards, marking only the second time in NCAA history.
UH became the fourth team in NCAA history to have three 1,000-yard receivers when Tyron Carrier, James Cleveland and Patrick Edwards each eclipsed the mark --the other teams were Texas Tech 2002, Hawaii in 2007 and Tulsa in 2007.

EDWARDS DEFYING THE ODDS
Houston receiver Patrick Edwards knows the word adversity ... He came to UH as a walk-on and earned a scholarship from head coach Kevin Sumlin in 2008 ... That same year, he suffered a devastating broken leg in a game against Marshall ... However in 2010, Edwards led the team with 70 receptions for 1,100 yards ... He is currently among the national leader in both receiving yards (2nd-1,148) and receiving TDs (2nd-11).

Edwards recorded one of the greatest pass-catching days in NCAA history on Oct. 27 vs. Rice, catching seven passes for a career high 318 yards and a school-record tying five TDs ... The effort allowed Edwards to become Houston's career leader in receiving yardage (3,905) and receiving TDs (34).

QUICK DRAW MCGRAW
Linebacker Marcus McGraw has started 48 straight games, every contest of his collegiate career, dating back to his true freshman season in 2008 ... With 459 total career tackles, McGraw ranks third in the UH record books, needing 48 to break the all-time mark held by Ryan McCoy (1990-93) ... He has started his senior season with a bang, posting with 90 total tackles through the first nine games, which ranks tied for 21st in the NCAA and fifth in Conference USA.

He has topped the century mark in tackles in three consecutive seasons with 103 as a freshman, 156 as a sophomore and 110 in 2010 ... McGraw has also led the team in tackles three straight years, joining a group of only three other UH players who have accomplished that feat ... He could be the second defender in school history to be the team leader in tackles all four years of college.
As a sophomore he led the conference and ranked fifth in the NCAA in tackles with 11.1 per game ... McGraw was named Second Team All-Conference USA in both 2009 and 2010 as one of the league's top defensive players.

HOUSTON AGAIN REPRESENTED IN B.C.S. POLL
Houston Football is once again in the Bowl Championship Series rankings as the Cougars debuted at No. 19 in the initial poll and have moved up to No. 11 in the latest announcement, the highest B.C.S. ranking in school history ... Houston moved up two spots following its 56-13 win at UAB ... The Cougars are one of two C-USA clubs in the B.C.S. Top 25, joining No. 22 Southern Mississippi.
The Cougars were ranked highest by the computer polls, including the Anderson & Hester computer ratings (9th) and the Colley Matrix (7th).

BLOCK PARTY
In three-plus seasons under head coach Kevin Sumlin, the Cougars have blocked 18 kicks, fourth-most in the country during that time span ... The 18 blocks have come from eight different players and include eight field goals, seven extra-point attempts and three punts.

In the 2011 season opener vs. UCLA, the Cougars had a crucial blocked kick on a Bruin extra-point attempt in the fourth quarter ... UCLA had a chance to get the score within three points after a late touchdown, but the UH block kept the margin at four points, which was the final score difference for the win, 38-34 ... UH followed up that performance with another blocked extra point at North Texas.

CARRIER TAKING IT TO THE HOUSE
Senior kick returner Tyron Carrier has seven returns for touchdowns over his four years at Houston, including four during the 2009 season ... In 2011 he added his seventh career KO return score, racing 100 yards vs. Rice on the opening kickoff to tie an NCAA record ... Carrier equaled the NCAA mark of Clemson running back C.J. Spiller, who had seven kickoff return touchdowns from 2006 to 2009 ... Carrier had the school's most kickoff return yardage in a single season in 2010 with 1,174 yards on 50 returns ... He has 6,801 all-purpose yards in four years ... Here is a list of Carrier's seven returns:

POSITION CHANGES
After starting 36 games at offensive guard for Houston the past three years, senior Chris Thompson has moved to center ... He has started 42 career games at UH ... In the season opener vs. UCLA he scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery ... Thompson has been a part of offensive lines that led the nation in total offense in 2008 and 2009 and ranked in the top-15 in 2010 ... With eight games played, UH is back as the NCAA's No. 1 team in scoring, passing and total offense.

Junior Kelvin King played two seasons at linebacker before being moved full-time to defensive end ... In two years at linebacker, he totaled 6.5 tackles for a loss of 34 yards and three sacks ... This season, he has 18.0 tackles, 3.5 for loss, including two sacks and an interception.

JUCO NATIONAL TITLES
The Cougars have five players on the roster who are no strangers to winning national titles ... Junior college transfers DL Dominic Miller, RB Michael Hayes and OL Josh McNeil from Blinn (Brenham, Texas) won a title in 2009 ... Defensive backs Chevy Bennett and D.J. Hayden transferred from Navarro (Corsicana, Texas) after winning the title in 2010.

TOUGH TO BEAT AT THE ROB
The Cougars have taken advantage of playing at home at Robertson Stadium ... Dating back to the 2006 season, UH is 31-5 record (.838) at home ... Even more impressive, the Cougars' margin of victory in those 31 wins is a remarkable 24.8 points per game (770 in 31 wins).

AGAINST NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTSKevin Sumlin has a 10-6 record (11-7 including bowl games) in his first three-plus years at UH against non-conference opponents ... Outside of Houston's eight conference games on the schedule in 2011, the Cougars battle schools from the Pac-10 (UCLA, W, 38-34), Sun Belt (North Texas, W, 48-23), WAC (Louisiana Tech, W, 35-34) and one independent (Georgia State, W, 56-0).

RECORD CROWDS AT ROBERTSON
In 2010, Houston sold out five of its six home games, and posted its two largest attendances in Robertson Stadium in the first two games of the season vs. Texas State and UTEP ... In the 2011 the Cougars have continued to draw fans into Robertson Stadium and each of the top-nine crowds have been recorded in the past three years ... Twelve of the top-15 attendance numbers have come during Sumlin's four years as head coach.